The impact of Gurus: Parker grades and en primeur wine prices

Abstract

This article looks at the impact of Robert Parker's oenological grades on the so-called en primeur prices of young Bordeaux wines. The Parker grades are usually published in the spring of each year, before the wine prices are established. However, the wine grades for 2003 were published much later, in the autumn, after the determination of prices. This unusual reversal is exploited to estimate a Parker effect which we find to be, on average, worth 2.80 euros per bottle of wine. We also use grade-specific effects to predict what prices would have been had Parker attended the 2003 spring tasting. © The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2008 by the Royal Economic Society.